


Failure and Success

by FreakyPseudWriter



Series: Iruka Week 2021 [6]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Accidental Cuddling, Dogs, F/M, Hospitals, Jutsu Gone Wrong, Shapeshifting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 05:09:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30016632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreakyPseudWriter/pseuds/FreakyPseudWriter
Summary: Iruka had never been this embarrassed. Hell, usually he would've been able to do this jutsu in his sleep! But no, today he had to fail and of course, today you were on shift in the hospital...
Relationships: Umino Iruka/Original Character(s), Umino Iruka/Original Female Character(s), Umino Iruka/Reader
Series: Iruka Week 2021 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2199300
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15
Collections: Iruka Week 2021





	Failure and Success

**Author's Note:**

> The second to last prompt for Iruka Week 2021! :D Jutsu Gone Wrong was maybe the first prompt I had an idea for, and I couldn't help myself but to picture Iruka with dog ears and a dog tail >-< Sue me.  
> It was an image I couldn't shake off, so here we are. Hope you guys have fun with this one as well and see you all again tomorrow! :D

This was probably the worst day of his life. Iruka wasn’t prone to dramatics, usually he was quite pragmatic. This though was a catastrophe of epic proportions and he had no idea how to fix it. Hell, he had no idea how he got even in this mess in the first place! 

Iruka shook his head. His new… _appendages_ ruffled painfully against the hood he used to cover his little accident with, while the other new appendage curled tighter around himself as he sat in the waiting room of the hospital. He just hoped you weren’t there. He prayed to every god he could think of, to every minor deity and ghost available that under no circumstances, you would be there and see him like this. 

But alas, luck wasn’t on his side today. Of course, it wasn’t. If luck was on his side, this ridiculous accident wouldn’t have happened in the first place.

Iruka’s stomach fell through the ground when he spotted you, walking around the patients to check on them. Not much to do today, he realized, so he would definitely stand out with his hood and wide cloak to hide his deformed body—!

“Iruka? Hey, Iruka!” Your voice echoed through the wide room. The teacher tried to sink further into his seat, but there was no use to hide from your keen eyes. With a wide grin on your face, obviously happy to see him, you wandered over, in your white coat and a stethoscope slung around your neck. “Hey there! I almost didn’t recognize you with that heavy cloak you have on. What are you doing here?”

“Hey (Y/N)... Good to see you.” 

“So,” you stuffed your hands into the pockets of your coat, “what brings you here?” 

“I, uuuuh…” His mind was blank. Nothing was going on there. Not one word, not one explanation. There was nothing Iruka could say which would explain his cloak, the secrecy, the sheer and utter embarrassment over the accident with a jutsu he once trained to perfection. He tried again; tried and tried to find the right words to describe how truly and utterly ridiculous his accident was. “I… I—!”

His cloak moved. Fur brushed against heavy fabric, pushed aside to reveal part of his fluffy, utterly non-human tail. 

You noticed. Of course, it wasn’t a thing to be ignored. Before Iruka could react, you grabbed the edge of his cloak and covered the tail once more, before reaching over and offering him a hand. “Alright, I see. Come on, we will see what we can do about that.” 

Grateful he didn’t have to explain anything, Iruka took your hand. Your fingers closed around his, warm and soft and gentle, only to tug him upwards and into the hallways of the hospital. Iruka merely followed, his other hand always trying to keep his hood over his face and the cloak tightly slung around his body. 

Only when you opened the door to your private office and let him in, he dared to look up from the ground.

“Alright,” you crossed your arms over your chest right after locking the door, “you can drop the cloak now. Nobody will interrupt us.”

“Are you sure?” Iruka didn’t want to sound as whiny as he felt, but there was no use. His voice betrayed how beaten down and done he was with the entire situation. 

To his relief, you nodded. “Yes, I am sure. Drop the cloak and I will see what I can do about it.”

It took the man more seconds of hesitation, doubt and despair, before his hands rose to unclasp the cloak. Still hesitating, he paused for another long moment, only to slowly slide off the hood, with the cloak quickly following.

Instantly, Iruka closed his eyes. He didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to hear the laughter which would follow. Such a simple jutsu, you would surely say, such a simple jutsu and he, a _teacher_ , fucked it up? To this point? 

No laughter came. Just a quiet exhale and steps forward. Then, a warm palm at his cheek and a tender voice vibrating in Iruka’s chest. “Hey. Hey there. Iruka. Open your eyes for me, okay?”

You were looking directly into his eyes. No amusement shining in them, just care and the will to help him. “Do not be ashamed,” you murmured, the silent words balm to Iruka’s soul, “do not dare to be ashamed for this. It happens sometimes, especially with this jutsu.”

“But—!”

“You would be surprised how many shinobi —experienced jounin and special jounin, Iruka— fuck it up. Hell, last week Shiranui came in to remove some scales from his back and some leftover gills.”

“Gills?”

You nodded. “Gills. Fish, probably. Tried to get away without getting noticed and fucked up the transformation. This is nothing against that debacle, trust me.”

“But these are—!”

“Dog ears and a dog tail. It’s fine.” 

Dog ears and a dog tail. Iruka closed his eyes once more. The limited transformation into an animal, for specialized focus on suppressing chakra and masking any human intent, was indeed one of the more known jutsu in the secret roll of forbidden techniques. And like the Shadow Clone jutsu, it was at the same time one of the favorite jutsu for the elite of Konohagakure to use in infiltrations. 

However, Iruka had used this jutsu so many times! It had been his speciality once, as the usage of that jutsu was simply destined for pranks of all kinds. When he was a teenager, he had used this jutsu nearly on a daily base, only to forget about it when he became more and more involved with the shinobi academy and teaching the next generation.

While Iruka continued to wallow in his misery, you were busy studying the ears. “Seems to me like normal dog ears. No particular race. A mix-breed. Same color of your hair, I would say.”

“Mhmm…”

“And your tail? It’s… surprisingly fluffy.”

“Yeah…”

“Any anomalies?” Your eyes met his. “Any pain or discomfort due to the extra… limbs?”

“No,” Iruka answered quickly, “nothing. Just… the tail and ears.”

“No heightened sense of smell or better hearing?”

“No…?” To be honest, Iruka didn’t even think of testing out the new appendages. As a test, he scented the air. No, nothing. But when he perked up his ears and tried to listen. He could hear…

Your heart. Your heart was beating abnormally loud in the room. Loud and fast. Interesting. Maybe you were sick…?

“That sounds more like a question.” Your smile was nearly blinding him. Iruka could feel his own heart speeding up, to the point he nearly reached up to try and stop his galloping heart from jumping out of his chest. 

“Yeah, I just tried it out. No heightened sense of smell, but I think my hearing is better.”

“Your hearing… Okay.” Strangely enough, you blushed. Iruka couldn’t really explain why. Were you really sick? 

Before he could rectify, you reached out to touch his hands. At the same time, your heart seemed to skip a beat, only to beat even faster for as long as Iruka listened to it. Strange. Really, really strange. “As far as I am concerned, you should be good if you complete the jutsu and then change back. This kind of halfway-transformation often comes from forgetting a seal, and usually it works out if you properly complete the seals once more.”

“Are you sure?” Iruka hesitated. 

When you nodded, an invisible weight was lifted off his shoulders. “I’m sure it will fix it. Besides, I’m really excited to see you as a dog. A little show for me.” 

_A show for you_. Iruka could feel himself blush. Damn, he just didn’t have any ability to stay cool when it came to you. After asking you for the correct seals of the jutsu —and wouldn’t he know it, he really forgot a seal— and going through the sequence once without molding any chakra, the teacher felt ready to get rid of his dog ears and tail again. 

A poof of smoke, the weird feeling of the world expanding and shrinking at the same time, and Iruka found himself in the body of the familiar dog he had chosen so many times to wreak havoc over Konoha. A mixed-breed, just like you correctly concluded, with a fluffy tail wagging back and forth, tongue lolling out, a cute little snout and dark button-eyes which could be used to beg for food or to be picked up and pet.

“Aaaaaaw,” you cooed and sank to your knees, “aaaw, my god, Iruka. This is one of the cutest dogs I’ve ever seen in my life.”

He barked. There was nothing to do but that. Not in this body which maybe reached up to your knees, but not more. 

“Oh my. Oh me, oh my. Look at you, you cutie-pie.” Out of old instinct, Iruka leaned into your palm when you started to pet him, with an enchanted look on your face he knew all too well. “Such a cutie. Gods, you’re so cute. I can’t with you, I simply can’t-!”

Suddenly, Iruka found himself in your lap as you enthusiastically cuddled him. There was no way out, he realized pretty quickly, and you were way too excited to stop anytime soon. And strangely enough, Iruka didn’t want you to stop. He didn’t want to escape, not really. Instead, he whole-heartedly enjoyed your cuddling, cooes and calls of cuteness. 

His tail wagged back and forth at a rapid speed, the strangest yips and bark echoed through the small medical office and he closed his eyes in sheer bliss when you started to massage his back with all ten of your fingers. Gods, yes. This was heaven. 

Your scent surrounded him. Your hands caressed him all over, making Iruka feel good and safe. Your soft voice was in his ears, telling him how handsome, cute and beautiful he was…

A dream came true. Iruka barely noticed when there was another poof of smoke and the strange feeling of growing without really growing, but he couldn’t care at the moment. The feeling of you continuing to caress him was just too good to open his eyes at the moment. 

Only when you stilled, your fingers splayed out over his stomach, Iruka woke up from the haze of foggy comfiness. 

Oh no. He changed back. His concentration had been disturbed by the feeling of his crush massaging him… Well, who would be able to withstand that? 

You seemed just as shocked as he was. Eyes wide, mouth slightly open, another blush coloring your face, hands still on his stomach which was thankfully covered by his black shirt and your entire body rigid against his. Iruka hung over your lower body, looking up and splayed out in a way which made it impossible to escape out of this situation without seeming like a gigantic asshole. 

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, blushing furiously as he did so, “I didn’t want to—!”

“No, no, it was my mistake,” you stumbled out at the same time, “I shouldn’t have… I knew it wouldn’t take too long for you to change back, I really shouldn’t have taken you into my lap…”

“It was still my fault.”

“Not really.”

“At least, fifty percent of it.”

“Well, if you say it that way… Allow me then,” you blushed even more, “to invite you out to a lunch. You know, to apologize for my fifty percent of involvement.”

“Really?” Iruka couldn’t believe it. You were really inviting him out for lunch? Was he dreaming still? Or was there a merciful god watching over part-time pranksters and full-time teachers who failed to do their jutsu properly? “I mean, yes. I would like to. Sounds really good to me.”

“Yes?” Your face lightened up. “I mean, cool. Nice. I… That’s good to hear.”

“I think so, too.”

“Good.”

For another long moment, Iruka looked up into your eyes. You answered the look with a smile, only to shake your head the tiniest bit. “You were really cute with dog ears, you know?”

Again, Iruka blushed. He had the faint premonition he would never be able to live this down. However, again, he couldn’t find it in himself to care much. He was, after all, exactly where he wanted to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Proofread only by me, sorry for any mistakes >-<


End file.
